Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers.

Google (emphasis ours):

First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers.

That "direct access" alibi is new to the Google statement, which yesterday only said:

Google cares deeply about the security of our users' data. We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government 'backdoor' into our systems, but Google does not have a 'backdoor' for the government to access private user data.

That statement with the "backdoor" reference could have implied that something other than a "backdoor" let the government in. (Perhaps for that very reason Zuckerberg doesn't even mention a backdoor, going straight to the direct access explanation.)

So, Page not only reiterated that same point with a little more vehemence and a clarification, but also added the new "direct access" clause Facebook has above hoping to further clarify it didn't cooperate with the NSA. "Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers," he said. "Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to our users’ data are false, period."

That's a stronger denial than yesterday, which some took as the company using vague technology terms to skirt the issue. But it still doesn't exonerate either of the companies because the NSA neither needs a "backdoor" or "direct access" to collect the data. Google didn't need to give the government a backdoor, as the ACLU's Christopher Soghoian notes:

In addition, Page's disavowal that he has never heard of the program doesn't have Soghoian convinced either. The timing of when Google supposedly joined the PRISM coalition, per The Washington Post's slides, is too convenient: